It is for that reason that I hope candidates will look into the whole issue of food, particularly urban food. This is also in the light of the fact that October 16, 2025, was World Food Day, which, was celebrated in Tanga.
The campaigns for this year’s General Election are entering their final week. All candidates have done their best to promise us the best that there is .Candidates have focused on promises to improve the critical areas of agriculture, the economy, industrialisation, physical and economic infrastructure, education, health, water supply, employment, electricity, law and order, the environment, and so on.
In some cases, the promises are at a national level, in others there are focused on specific areas such as a region or district.
When all the promises get implemented, Tanzania will very much be a changed country, a heaven on earth.
But parties of course do not implement; they direct and supervise governments to implement. The manifestos, therefore are like policy documents. They need to be turned into tangible actions and outputs. This, will no doubt, be done.
Some analysts have been quoted as saying that given the wide areas covered by the candidates during the campaigns, they tend to change tactics in the final days to, according to one analyst: “deliver more memorable and impactful messages”, which translate into votes.
It is for that reason that I hope candidates will look into the whole issue of food, particularly urban food. This is also in the light of the fact that October 16, 2025, was World Food Day, which, was celebrated in Tanga.
Food is more than a basic need; it is the foundation of life. Given that more and more people are moving into cities, and given the fact that agricultural activities take very much second seat in urban areas, countries, including Tanzania, need an urban food strategy to feed these teaming urban populations, most of them young.
In 1955, only 3 percent of Tanzania’s population was urban. This had grown to 5.7 percent in 1967; to 13.3 percent in 1978; to 17.8 percent in 1988; to 22.6 percent in 2002; to 22.6 percent in 2012; and to 34.4 percent in 2022.
These figures are from various census data. It is a one-way growth. More and more people are migrating into, or are getting born in, urban areas. They all need food.
The city of Dares Salaam, had just 272,821 mouths to feed in 1967. These had grown to 4,364,541 in 2012, and are now over 6,000,000.
The question is not just feeding mouths, but feeding them on quality and affordable food. However, as has been the trend, urban life is hectic and there has been the development of the fast-food business, such as chips and burgers; which is not known for its good quality.
A good number of modern non-communicable diseases is attributed to eating what some see as junk food.
Urban areas need food distribution infrastructure in forms of a network of markets; as well as how food gets to the final consumer; either by its being cooked at home, where issues of clean energy come in; or by eating food cooked by somebody else.
Many young urbanites and low-income households tend to eat at makeshift restaurants, manned by the industrious mama lishes. If not well regulated, these can result into health hazards.
There is therefore, the importance of having an urban food strategy, which is a set of goals, policies, and programs designed to create more sustainable, equitable, and resilient food systems within urban areas.
This would involve collaboration among various stakeholders to improve access to, and distribution of healthy food; strengthen the connection between urban and rural food sources, support local food production like urban agriculture and food manufacturing and packaging, and reduce food waste.
Effective strategies require multi-stakeholder approaches that integrate food systems into broader urban planning and governance.
Issues to be addressed include what food should be produced, where and by who, and how is it transported to urban areas. Are the producers receiving a fair price? Here, the issue of lumbesa, comes into focus.
Who are the key players? Where is food received, stored when it arrives into urban areas and how is it distributed to retailers? How can food waste be minimised?
Not all food consumed in urban areas comes from outside. In many urban areas, there is a thriving system of urban agriculture, involving animal keeping and plant growing which however, is poorly planned for and poorly regulated.
Urban areas need to be planned to incorporate urban agriculture, including leaving land aside for grazing and farming. Urbanites should also be encouraged to improve their food quality by growing part of their needs.
The question of urban agriculture is also related to sustainable environmental management and climate change. Strategies should focus on building food systems that can withstand shocks, adapt to climate change, and protect natural resources and created sustainable linkages between rural and urban areas, and within urban areas themselves.
The subject of urban food strategy is huge and critical, and candidates for the General Election need to cast an eye on it; and tell us how they are planning to ensure that we have access to quality and affordable food.
